Cutting and Gathering the Crops. 101 



night. After breakfast the farm team is attached to 

 the reaper, and in twenty minutes or half an hour 

 has cut enough forage to last two days, and has gone 

 on to its regular farm work. I found a boy fifteen 

 or sixteen years old quite able to do the extra work 

 of drawing, feeding, cleaning stables, etc. , and have 

 about six or eight hours a day to devote to the regu- 

 lar farm work. After breakfast the boy feeds calves, 

 pigs, etc., and at 7:30 with the one-horse wagon 

 goes to the field and draws to the barn the 8 o'clock 

 feeding, which he delivers into the mangers from 

 the wagon, and leaves upon the wagon enough for- 

 age for the noon feeding. The boy is now at liberty 

 to work elsewhere on the farm or in the dairy. At 

 noon the forage that was left on the wagon is given 

 to the cows, a work of 10 or 15 minutes. Other em- 

 ployment is found for the boy until 3 :3o, when he 

 goes to the barn, puts the horse to the wagon, and 

 delivers to the cattle their 4 o'clock feeding. He 

 then draws in enough forage for the 7 o'clock feed- 

 ing, and the first (5 o'clock) feeding for the follow- 

 ing morning. He then cleans the stables, assists 

 in milking, and at 7 o'clock gives the final or fifth 

 feeding to the cattle, which is quickly done. This 

 ends the day, with the exception of turning the cat- 

 tle out at 8 o'clock for the night. They have free 

 access to water in the yard when let out for the 

 night. They require no more water during the day. 

 In thus relating my own method and practice in 

 providing for fourteen head of dairy cows, I am well 

 aware that it might not be suited in every respect to 



